Chelsea Needs Young Players To Succeed in Long Term

Chelsea has been in nice form this season. They are still the leaders in the English Premier League followed by Manchester United. They are progressing well in the FA Cup. They are also one of the favourites to win the Champion's League after losing in the 2008's edition to Manchester United.

Chelsea was equally "unlucky" in last year's edition, when it lost to Barcelona under highly-debatable officiating. But this current crop of players are all in early thirties or late twenties. They are a team in its prime. Some players, like John Terry, have risen from the Blues' Youth Academy.

But these players will get older, and maybe after the next two years or so, they may not be in the same form they are right now. The same thing has happened to AC Milan this season. Its established players are all above thirty.

The problem was evident in the recently concluded Champion's League match against Manchester United. The likes of Pirlo, Nesta who were considered legends in defence, looked hapless and out of breath against Rooney in the second half.

Chelsea should learn from that match. Chelsea already has some promising young players like Zhirkov, Borini, Sturridge, Ivanovic, Kalou, and Kakuta. But these players, except for Ivanovic, are not getting much exposure.

They need to play some good teams and gain valuable match experience. Ivanovic is doing well and Zhirkov looked very promising in his matches. These players should get more match exposure or unused talent may go to waste. Nobody would like that to happen.

Chelsea still has a team that will hopefully continue playing well for another two or three years. But after that, they will need youngsters who can take the responsibility from the able hands of our present crop of players. If not, Chelsea will face the same problems that Liverpool, AC Milan is currently facing.

Liverpool has no alternatives to Gerrard, Alonso (what a foolish move) and Torres. Hence, Chelsea should start planning for the future and nurture its youngsters.

Sergio Aguero or Dzeko can be very good replacements for Drog or Anelka. But those guys need to get accustomed to the premier league environment. Or any player will face problem no matter how talented he maybe.

I think we, Chelsea, should make some clever and good investments in promising young players to nurture them for the future. That is the main weapon of the great Fergie and the reason for continuous success for Manchester United. We should take the positives from our rivals and utilise them for our future stability.